Speech At The Parliamentary
Media Briefing Weekby Dr. Zola Skweyiya
Minister For The Public Service And Administration, South Africa

February 14, 1997

Members of the press, the diplomatic corps,
ladies and gentlemen:

My presentation this morning will detail how
the Ministry is negotiating the transformation of the public service. This is
being done in the context of conflicting imperatives. In my presentation I will
also outline the challenges and tasks ahead. These matters have been the subject
of reports in the press over the past few weeks.

Over the past two years the Ministry and the
Department have established various policies, concluded numerous agreements with
organised labour, and had important legislation initiated by or passed by Parliament.
We are confident that in 1997 these policies, agreements and legislation will
have a measurable impact on the effectiveness of the public service. This impact
will be evident in the quality of management, the extent of broader participation
and the efficiency of service delivery.

The White paper of 1995 spelt out the challenges
and tasks involved in transforming the public service. This transformation has
been undertaken in the context of sometimes conflicting imperatives, namely:

1. Integrating and restructuring the public
service while simultaneously trimming it down;

2. Extending the reach of the public service
while adhering to fiscal discipline; and

3. Making the public service more representative
of society while increasing standards of efficiency.

The successful formulation and implementation
of policy given these imperatives in many cases requires detente with organised
labour. Our position has been and remains that the various conflicting demands
in the public service can only be resolved through good faith negotiations with
all parties. These negotiations must be conducted within the parameters of the
constitution, the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service, and
other policy indicators.

With regard to the institutional structures
in the public service, a major reform has been the unbundling of the policy formulation
and decision making functions of the Public Service Commission. The first steps
have been taken towards making the South African Management and Development Institute
(SAMDI) an autonomous institution.

SAMDI is in the process of establishing a new
unit which will focus on productivity and total quality management issues in the
public service. Enhanced productivity and quality in the public sector is vital
to improved service delivery.

In this regard, SAMDI will be hosting a conference
on productivity and quality improvement in the Public Service on 13 - 14 March
at Somerset-West.

The other important institutional structures
that have been established, albeit of a short term nature, are the Presidential
Review Commission and the Provincial Task Team. Both the commission and the provincial
teams will be submitting reports that address general and specific deficiencies
in public service management.

Central to the investigation of the Provincial
Task Team has been the pervasive issue of ghost workers, particularly in the former
TBVC States and the self-governing territories. In resolving this challenge my
Ministry has set up a team to assist in the Eastern Cape. The first step has been
to issue new identity documents to all public servants so as to weed out any duplication
of persons on the payroll. The second stage will involve the reconciliation of
the payroll with personnel records and the actual persons employed by departments.

The Northern Province on the other hand has
employed inspectors in the provincial department of Finance to undertake "in loco" inspections of government departments and institutions with the view to eliminating
ghosts.

In Kwazulu-Natal, the Premier has instituted
an investigative team under the Director-General of the province. This team will
be submitting reports to the Premier in this regard. The ultimate responsibility
in each of these affected provinces lies with the Premiers in terms of the Public
Service Act which defines them as executing authorities for their provinces. I
will be monitoring the situation very closely throughout the year.

The engine rooms of the process of restructuring
the terms and conditions of service in the public service are the bargaining councils.
With regard to the ongoing negotiations in the Central Chamber of the Public Service
Bargaining Council, I would like to reaffirm that the government is committed
to honouring agreements already entered into despite some of the difficulties
that are being experienced.

The three-year agreement between the State
and the trade unions in the Public Service Bargaining Council links the proper
remuneration of workers to the achievement of an appropriately sized service.
The right-sizing of the public service has as its objective the creation of a
streamlined and efficient public service. It is also a means of supplementing
the funds available for implementing the new salary grading system over a period
of three years.

The first component of the right-sizing programme
was the abolition of posts that were budgeted for but not filled. So far 18,246
posts with a financial value of 665 million rands have been abolished.

The second component of the right-sizing programme
was the introduction of voluntary severance packages. As of 12 February 1997,
58 731 applications for severance packages had been received and 39 501 applications
approved. These figures include the education sector, the police service and the
public service. Of these figures, 24,861 persons have already left the service
as of 31 December 1996.

There has been speculation in the press about
the possibility of the voluntary severance initiative being withdrawn and replaced
by employer-initiated retrenchments. Everything has been done to encourage departments
and administrations to market the initiative as widely as possible, especially
among supernumerary personnel, and expedite the consideration of applications.

During the last round of negotiations with
the unions, the employer representatives indicated that it would be advisable
to determine a cut-off date. After considerable debate it was decided to put the
matter on hold pending consideration of all aspects impacting upon the three-year
agreement. This matter will be discussed further in future. The next round of
negotiations will occur at the meeting of the Central Chamber scheduled for 10
- 14 March, 1977 in Cape Town.

Currently all inclusive right-sizing targets
are being determined for 1 April 1997 by a committee drawn from the departments
of Public Service & Administration and State Expenditure. This committee works
closely with central government departments and provincial administrations. Proposals
in this regard will be submitted to Cabinet for it to take a decision on such
targets.

One of the difficulties of implementing the
right sizing exercise is that it has to be underpinned by an equitable and fair
means of evaluating the huge array of jobs in the public service. My Department
has launched a Job Evaluation Project together with the British Overseas Development
Agency which will identify the key criteria to be used in comparing Public Service
jobs.

With regard to current policy initiatives,
the Green Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery intends to provide citizens
with the means to hold public servants accountable for the services they receive.
It sets out the principles, standards, and mechanisms necessary to inculcate a
culture and enforce a practice of putting the people first (Batho Pele). It is
proposed that every national department and provincial administration be required
to publish standards for the level and quality of services provided, service delivery
improvement plans, and an annual "Report to Customers."

A national conference on public service delivery
is scheduled for the 27 - 28 February 1997 at the Bisho Campus of the University
of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape to discuss the implications and ramifications
of operationalising these proposals. All members of the media are invited to attend
and cover the conference.

Three pilot areas have been selected for the
implementation of the Batho Pele service delivery programme: the national Departments
of Health and Home Affairs, and the Provincial Administration of the North West.

The premise of the green paper entitled "A
New Law for a New Public Service Statute" is that the public service has in the
past been over-regulated and undermanaged. The Green Paper thus proposes to give
decision making autonomy and responsibility to managers in the public service.

Consistent with the principles of co-operative
government, it is envisaged that this autonomy will be exercised within the framework
of national norms and standards. It is also envisaged that the exercise of this
autonomy will be consistent with a Code of Best Management Practices.

The Affirmative Action directorate in the Department
is undertaking research on the employment of women and the disabled in the public
service. Work is in progress towards the establishment of a unified, central database
on the levels of representativeness in the public service. Available statistics
indicate that as of September 1996, although white people continued to fill the
majority (64 percent) of the management posts in the public service, black people
filled 28 percent of the posts, Asian people 5.0 percent and Coloured people 3
percent. Women filled 11 percent of the management posts. All efforts are being
made to improve these levels of representativeness which are far from adequate.

On the policy front, another development of
importance was the publishing of the Green Paper on Public Service Training and
Education. The Green Paper is a comprehensive review of the policy on and provisioning
of training and education to public servants.

The Green Paper outlines the policies and institutional
structures necessary to make public service practice compatible with the National
Qualification Framework and the Department of Labour's Human Resource Development
Strategy.

Training has also been given a boost by the
recent agreement reached with the trade unions to amend the Public Service Staff
Code so that the present bursary scheme will also cover financial assistance for
pre-tertiary education and training. This amendment will make available financial
assistance to cover lifelong learning to a large number of public servants.

Draft policy documents on a new employment
policy and affirmative action in the Public Service have recently been circulated
to obtain inputs after which they will be reworked before being published.

The new employment policy will align the employment
practices within the Public Service with the new principles and values enshrined
in the Constitution, the Labour Relations Act, and other pieces of legislation.
The new policy is consistent with the new model of Public Administration which
emphasises the devolution of power to managers.

It is my hope that all these developments will
greatly accelerate and facilitate the transformation of the public service. Only
then will the public service be able to perform its expected role with success.

I thank you.

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